Centrifugal dust separator



J. W. NEWCOMBE.

CENTRIFUGAL DUST SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1920.

Patented June 27, 1922.

- ber bein UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

J'OHN W. NEWGOMBE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CENTRIFUGAL DUST SEPARATOR.

To all whom it mwy concern-.-

Be it known that I, J HN W. NEwooMBE,

a'citizen of the United States of America,

residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Centrifugal Dust Separators, of which the following is a vices in which a separation is effected by purely mechanical action. 1

An'object of the invention is to provide a simple mechanical device which will of fectually separate dust and other foreign matter from air, gases or other fluids passed,

therethrough and the construction of which is such as to adapt the same for installation in machines and apparatus of various types and for various uses.

A further object is to provide a device of.

this character which is particularly applicable to vacuum sweeper constructions, and further, to provide a construction having certain other new and useful features.

The invention consists in providing a perforate member within the path of the fluid flow and from which flow particles of matter are to be separated, said perforate memrotated by power at a rate of travel which is such in proportion to the rate of travel of the particles carried by the fluid,

that these particles will be intercepted by and will impinge upon the portions of the member between its perforations, being thereby deflected and precipitated out of the .flowv passing through the perforations.

y The invention further consists in providing a slmple mechanical constructlon where- .by the device may be readily applied to vari- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a vacuum sweeper embodying the invention with the packing by and illustrative'of an application of the in I e one side and a spring clip 10 at the other 110 Specification of Letters Patent. t te u 7, 1922 Application filed May 10, 1920. Serial No. 380i065.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section substantially .upon the line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar section substantially upon the line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 1s a perspective detail of a separator member detached; and

Fig. 5 is. a side elevation of the vacuum' sweeper shownin Fig. 1 and-drawn to a reduced scale.

It will be understood that while the device for separatlng dust particles from air is shown in the accompanying drawing, as applied to a vacuum sweeper, that the invention may be applied for use in separating dust and other foreign matter from air, gases or other fluids in other devices or machines, or may be used separately and alone as a separator unit.

The form and construction of separator device embodying the invention makes this device particularly adaptable for use in connection with vacuum sweepers, as illustrated, this separator device being substituted or used in place of the usual, dust bag into which the dust ladenair is forced by the motor driven fan. In a vacuum sweeper construction embodying this invention, the

dustladen air is drawn in by'means of the usual suction fan but the dust isseparated from the air prior to the air reaching the fan and prior to its escape into the open air;

'As shown in thedrawing, 1 represents a suitable tubular casing forming a dust receiving chamber 2 and this casing is closed at its lower end by a adetachable head 3 having the usual suction nozzle 4 adapted to be engaged with andmoved over the surface to be cleaned. This suction nozzle has an inner end portion 5 which is extended into the dust chamber 2 for a considerable distance so that a suitable pocket or chammeans 0 a hook 9 at in clampin engagement 1 and isdetachably secured I side to engage these flanges and hold the casing parts firmly united. At the upper end of the separator casing 6 and in axial alignment therewith is a fan casing or chamber 11 and formed integral with the upper end of the fan casing, is a. motor casing 12 in axial alignment with the other casings. Within the motor casing 12 is a suitable electric motorindicated at 13 and having a shaft 14 at its axis to which the suction fan 15 is secured. This suction fan may be of any suitable construction, it being preferably of axial inlet type, with a peripheral discharge so that the air will be drawn into the fan longitudinally thereof at its axis and discharge radially by the several blades. The periphery or circular wall of the casing 11 is formed with a series of outlet openings 16 for the escape of air discharged by the fan,sa id opening 16 being preferably formed by slitting the casing longitudinally and bending outwardly the metal at one edge of each slit, as indictated at 17 thus providing a series 'of elongated'openings 16 having curved or formed throat portions 18 extending tangentially of the casing peripherally in the direction of rotation of the fan 15.

The fan wheel 15 is provided with a tubular extension 19 which extends a short distance into the casing 6 and mounted at one end upon this tubular extension, is the rotatable dust separator indicated as a whole at 20. This separator member 20 has a flanged ring member or head 21 at one end to fit closely over the tubular extension 19 on the fan wheel so that it will be supported by the fan wheel at one end and will rotatetherewith. A head 22 at the opposite end of the separator member is .provided with a trunnion 23 to engage a cross bar 24 having a bearing to receive the trunnion and extending transversely of the casing 6 in the lower end thereof. This cross bar 24 is pivotally secured at 25 to one side of the casing at one end and is detachably held at its opposite end at the other side of the casing by means of a suitable spring clip 26.

By releasing the clip 26, the cross bar may be turned upon its pivot to disengage it from the trunnion 23 so that the separator member 20 may be slipped endwise out of engagement with the fan wheel and re moved from the casing for the purpose of cleaning or repair.

The ring member 21 and head 22 of the Separator are connected by a series of small 1 wires 27 securely held at their ends in any suitable'manner in openings in said heads and these wires extend spirally from one head to the other and as the head 22 is of much less diameter thanthe head 21, these several wires together form a truncated conical wall, the several wires being spacedshort distances apart so that the air drawn in through the nozzle 4: by the fan Wheel 15 may pass freely through the interstices I between the wires forming this conical wall. The spiral lead of these several wires from the small or lower end of the cone toward the large end is preferably in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the 4 distances apart, is most efficient in its opera-- tion of separating dust and other particles from air, but it will be understood that this inventio contemplates the use of other forms of rotatable separators through the perforations of which the fluid passes and which are rotated at such a speed as to intercept all particles carried by the stream and by the centrifugal or deflecting action set up by the rapid rotation of the member, throw off or deflect the particles laterally and thus separate them from the air stream.

A. conical separator member formed of a plurality of longitudinally and spirally extending wires, provides anextended perforate surface through which the air passes freely and at the same time presents an extended surface into contact with which the dust particles come as the air passes through the member. The rapid rotation of the conical member insuresthe contact of the wires with every particle of dust carried by theair. before such particle can pass between the Wires and when such particle comes in contact with a wire, it is deflected oris set into rapid rotation and is either thrown off laterally at once by centrifugal force or deflection or passes longitudinally along the wire toward the enlarged upper end or head 21 where it will be, caught by the head and then thrown off laterally by centrifugal force. The spiral direction of the wires assists in the travel of the dust particles along these wires toward the large end of the-cone where the centrifugal force 1s eatest.

- in order that the device may be conveniently handled as a sweeper, .a handle extension 28 is secured to the end of the motor casing 12 and the usual wires leading to the motor are carried within this handle in the usual manner.

Obviously the arrangement may be such that the air or other fluid maybe forced or blown through the separator member instead of being sucked through as in the construction shown, and the particular form or arrangement of casing and the manner in which the separator member is driven may be varied'witbin the scope of the appended claims, to suit the particular installation of the separator device. Further, the form,

- inlet and, an outlet, of a conical rotary sepa- Q qforate rotatable separator may be varied within the scope of the appended clalms from the spiritof this .without departin I invention and I 0 not therefore limit myself to the construction, arrangement or combination of. parts as shown.

Having thus fully described m'yinvention, what I claim is Y '1. In a device of the. character described,

the combination with a casing havingan "rator member insaid casing having an open end closing'the passage to the outlet and arranged'with its end'o'f smaller diameter toward the inlet, the conicalwall of said member beingl formed with a plurality'of openings wit the portions between said openin 's continuous throughout the length.

wall, means vfor forcing a How' through "the ca'sin and separator member,

and power means or. rotating the separator memberat a'rate of travel proportionate to and greater than the-rate of travel "of'the:

I particles carriedfbyjthe flow, whereby the portions-"or" said separator member between said openings are caused to intercept-said.

p ti l nd convey them longitudinally of f-'-and toward theiarge endof the separator member. 7

2. :A device of the character described comprising a casing, power "driven means for causing a fipw of am through the casing,

rotatable separator member in the casing ,1 a formed, withv spiral openings for I the pascomprising a casing means for inducing sage of air-therethrough, and power means- Y for rotating the separator member."

1'3. A device io f he character described a flow t hrough thecasing, arotatable separatin'gjmember mounted in the casingand pro- 'yi-ded with openings-extending s irally thereof in the direction of its lengt and power means for: I rotating the 'separator member. 4

41 In' a device of the. character described the combination: of [a 'casin ;a power .'dnven rotatable separator mem r mountedsaid casing and including a series 0 spaced. wires extending spirally eo'f. said member 'in-the'xdirection of the flow. through the casing,lsaid"=w ires forminga perforate wall for said member, and power driven 5. A.' -'device of ineansgforcausing a flow through' the casing the perforate of said the character'deseribed comprising a casing, means for causing a and throughmember. I

,-. flofi'of air through the casing, a separator member within the casingharvmg a conical wall formed ofa plurality'ofspac'ed mem-p5 bers extending longitudinally of the wall,

and spirally thereof, and means for rotating said member.

6. A device of 'thcharacter described comprising a casing, means causing a flow member in the casing compr sing a plurality of spaced wires arranged spirally in the direction of .the length of the separator member, and power means for rotating the separator member. a

I 7. A device as defined in claim 6,- in" which the separatormember is conical and of fluid through the casing, a separator has the smaller'end set toward the inlet for I the air.

8. A device of the character described .comprising a casing, means causing a flow' of air throughthecasmg, a conical separator member consisting of. a series of wires extending spirally between two, heads mounted .for'rotation on an axis coincident- I with the longitudinal axis 'of-the casing,

and means. for (rotating the separator member.

' 9. A separator member consisting of a series of spaced wires extending spirally in and connecting. two heads, means for-rotat- 'ing the separator member on its longitudinal axis, andmeans for causing a flow ofair through the se arator member.

incident with the longitudinal axis of the casing, a rotary'de'vice mounted on the shaft 10. The com ination of "a tubular casi1ig, a motor atfone end of the casing having, a 1 r shaft mounted forrotation-on--.an'axis cothe direction of the length 9f said member j, for rotation thereby to produce a flow of air through the casing, said rotary device h'av ing a tubular extension, and 'a separator member extending longitudinally of 'the'lcas ing and having a perforate side walli-and an end-adapted to enga e the tubular?extenmember. I

t'u-be extends tlirougbrjsaid closed end .with

theinner, end of the tube extending into the 4 casing'at the axis thereof and with itsop'en inner end in alignment with and at a-distance from' the closed lower end ofv the separator member. r

In testimony whereof I afljx in the presence of two witnesses.

my signature 

